The present disclosure relates to fasteners and, more particularly, to an improved nail.
Nails are well known and commercially used throughout the world to secure objects to one another or to secure an object to a substrate. A typical nail includes a head, a shank integrally connected to and extending from the head, and a tip integrally connected to and extending from the shank and terminating in a pointed free end. The head of a typical nail is shaped like a pancake, and includes a flat circular upper surface, a cylindrical side surface integrally connected to the outer edge of the upper surface, and a flat annular lower surface integrally connected to the cylindrical side surface.
Nails are commonly used to attach gypsum board or drywall to a substrate, such as lumber. The exterior surface of the gypsum board is generally flat and lies in an exterior plane. When a nail is used to attach the gypsum board to the substrate, the head of the nail is preferably recessed below the exterior plane and into the gypsum board. The space between the recessed head and the exterior plane is later filled with joint compound and sanded to provide a smooth finished exterior surface.
Using this known nail to attach gypsum board to a substrate causes two problems.
First, the flat annular lower surface of the head of a known nail commonly tears the outer paper of the exterior surface of the gypsum board. This complicates applying joint compound and in certain cases damages the gypsum board beyond repair. This increases the time spent working on the project and could also result in wasted material.
Second, the flat circular upper surface can cause a nail pop in the finished wall. Relative movement between the nail and the gypsum board (e.g., due to swelling and contraction of the lumber substrate in varying temperatures) can cause the nail to push an area of the gypsum board outward (thereby creating a protruding nail pop) or pull an area of the gypsum board inward (thereby creating a dimple nail pop). Nail pops are unsightly and take time to fix.
There is a need for improved nails that remedy these problems.